06 June 2007

Breaking Out of My School-Box Thinking, Part 2

This post has been adapted to become a page on my web site:

Breaking The Classroom Habit
The classroom is an educational habit and it's a habit that is sometimes bad for children. Here's the story of how I broke my classroom habit.

1 comment:

B.P.R. said...

-Don-

You have certainly put forth a great deal of not only theoretical contemplation, but practical thought regarding execution as well. Many of the points you have made resonate with my thinking on our mechanized educational systems quite well. I do wonder if what you are ultimately talking about are the values that are cultivated and utilized in the classroom?.. as I believe this is one place where positive, effective reform can begin. The context you provide, however, for the resolution of problematic issues (as I understand it) is in actuality only present in the very minute percentage of progressive schools in the country. As I am relatively inarticulate in comparison to the richness of your ideas, please feel free to articulate any misunderstandings I may present regarding your article. Do you feel that educational reform can occur higher in the bureaucratic realms of mainstream U.S. education?? Also, what are your thoughts on special education? How can these students be presented with the same opportunities as "normal" public school children when they may have conditions that require a much less restrictive (or more in some cases) environment than most other students? Please realize (I cannot stress this enough) that I only ask you these questions because from reading what you have written I feel that you are capable of thinking deeply and answering thoughtfully. I do not ask questions with the intent of making a statement, but rather I am genuinely interested in what you have to say on these topics. To give some context, I am a graduate student at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and I am in the process of obtaining my graduate degree in Art Education. The subjects you have spoken of are subjects that I also think about with some serious inquiry, and I feel that you can help me in my thinking. So, again I thank you for your original post and hope that you can find the time to respond to my comment and questions.